This is the accessible text file for GAO report number GAO-04-276R
entitled 'Department of State (State) and United Nations relief and
Works Agency (UNRWA) Actions to Implement Section 301(c) of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961' which was released on November 17, 2003.
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United States General Accounting Office:
Washington, DC 20548:
November 17, 2003:
The Honorable Mitch McConnell:
Chairman:
The Honorable Patrick Leahy:
Ranking Member:
Subcommittee on Foreign Operations:
Committee on Appropriations:
United States Senate:
The Honorable Jim Kolbe:
Chairman:
The Honorable Nita M. Lowey:
Ranking Member:
Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related
Programs:
Committee on Appropriations:
United States House of Representatives:
Subject: Department of State (State) and United Nations Relief and
Works Agency (UNRWA) Actions to Implement Section 301(c) of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961:
Established in 1949 by the United Nations, UNRWA provides assistance to
Palestinian refugees in the Middle East. UNRWA assistance is primarily
education, health, and relief and social services. More than 4 million
Palestinian refugees are eligible to receive these services in UNRWA's
five areas of operation--Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, and
Gaza.
In section 301(c) of the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act (PL 87-195) as
amended, Congress has directed that "No contributions by the United
States shall be made to [UNRWA] except on the condition that [UNRWA]
take all possible measures to assure that no part of the United States
contribution shall be used to furnish assistance to any refugee who is
receiving military training as a member of the so-called Palestine
Liberation Army or any other guerrilla type organization or who has
engaged in any act of terrorism.":
In 2003, Congress approved the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution,
2003 (PL 108-7), section 580, which required the General Accounting
Office (GAO) to report to the appropriations committees on State
Department compliance with section 301(c) of the 1961 Foreign
Assistance Act and the implementation of procedures established to meet
State standards for section 301(c). To fulfill this mandate, we:
are reporting on State Department actions and UNRWA's implementation of
procedures to address section 301(c). As agreed, we briefed your staff
on our findings on November 6, 2003[Footnote 1]. Enclosure I documents
the information we presented to your staff. UNRWA and the Department of
State provided technical comments on a draft of this briefing, which we
incorporated as appropriate.
Background:
UNRWA employs more than 24,000 staff. More than 90 percent of its staff
are Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's mission does not involve
administering or policing refugee camps. Relevant civil authorities in
each area of operations are responsible for camp administration and
security. Approximately 1.3 million refugees live in such camps, while
almost 2.8 million refugees do not live in camps.
In calendar 2000-2002, UNRWA spent about $1 billion. During this
period, the United States provided about $332 million to UNRWA. The
State Department provided about $300 million during this period, while
the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) granted UNRWA
another $32 million.
Summary:
State has taken actions to implement section 301(c). For example, State
requires UNRWA to certify that in accepting each contribution from the
United States, UNRWA is taking all possible measures to assure that U.S
funds do not benefit terrorists or refugees receiving military training
from guerrilla groups. State has also acted to improve monitoring by
(1) placing a Refugee Coordinator in Amman, Jordan, whose main duty is
to monitor UNRWA; (2) funding additional UNRWA international staff to
inspect facilities; and (3) requesting that UNRWA report regularly on
301(c) compliance. State has also urged UNRWA to adopt a more formal
monitoring program. However, State has not defined key terms used in
section 301(c).
UNRWA's implementation of procedures to address section 301(c) is
constrained by several factors. First, while it relies on host
governments to review local job applicants for UNRWA employment in
Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, it does not have similar arrangements with
authorities in the West Bank and Gaza, where UNRWA also lacks access to
data on arrests of its local staff. Second, UNRWA uses international
staff to inspect its facilities and requires non-UNRWA groups to obtain
permission before using those facilities, but it has not been able to
prevent armed incursions. Finally, UNRWA is constrained in determining
if its beneficiaries meet section 301(c) criteria, owing to concerns
for its staff's safety and its inability to verify beneficiary
responses.
Scope and Methodology:
To describe State Department actions, we reviewed State and USAID
records for fiscal 1999-2003 and met with State and USAID officials in
Washington, D.C.; Jerusalem; Tel Aviv, Israel; and Amman, Jordan.
To describe UNRWA's implementation of procedures, we reviewed UNRWA,
State, and USAID documents. We also met with United States officials in
Washington, Amman, and Jerusalem. We met with UNRWA management
(including the directors of each of its five operating areas), staff,
and beneficiaries in Jerusalem; in Bethlehem and Ramallah, in the
Israeli-occupied West Bank; and in Amman, Jordan. In addition, we met
with Israeli officials in Washington and Jerusalem and with Jordanian
officials in Amman.
We performed our review from April 2003 through October 2003 in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
We are sending copies of this report to the Honorable Colin Powell,
Secretary of State, and to interested congressional committees. Copies
will be made available to others upon request. In addition, this report
will be available at no charge on our Web site at http://www.gao.gov.
If you or your staff have any further questions regarding this
assessment, please contact me at (202) 512-3149. Cheryl Goodman, Pierre
Toureille, and Ella Mann also made key contributions to this report.
David B. Gootnick:
Director, International Affairs and Trade:
Signed by David B. Gootnick:
Enclosure:
[See PDF for images]
[End of figure]
FOOTNOTES
[1] Section 580 required GAO to report to the committees by November 1,
2003. Although we were prepared to present our findings by that date,
we agreed to your staff's request that we defer our briefing to
accommodate congressional deliberations on the supplemental
appropriations bill.